


sticking to this one way street

by bitchbabymurdock



Series: boy in the bubble [7]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bonding, Friendship, Gen, arts and crafts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-23 05:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20886818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchbabymurdock/pseuds/bitchbabymurdock
Summary: “It’s Halloween, Matt!” Foggy croons. Karen cheers unintelligibly from where she’s pressed tightly against Matt’s side.Matt’s lips quirk in a confused smile. “Halloween’s in four weeks, Fogs.”“No, no, no!” Foggy detaches himself enough to shake his head aggressively. “It’s October, so it’s Halloween! The month of Halloween is Halloween!”Or, Foggy and Karen decide that getting together and making Halloween-themed crafts is the best use of their time, and Matt can't help but let himself get swept up in their enthusiasm.





	1. discernment

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from 'boardwalks' by little may
> 
> takes place somewhere around ch 19/20 of [the road is long, we carry on](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274943) but you dont Have to read that in order to read this! it might make more sense if you do, though

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the trio make plans, and matt slowly but surely starts to believe in happy endings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know in almost every authors notes lately ive said something like 'im sick' or 'im tired' etc so yall will understand if my writing is just . doing who knows what (which honestly should just become my brand by this point.. weird pacing? random spelling errors? emotions and mood switches too drastically to understand whats going on? nah thats just me)  
but anyways uhhh i only got like,, 2.5hrs of sleep last night? and then had abt 5.5-6 hrs worth of lectures? and a quiz? lol  
i'm close to falling asleep as im writing this rn so . u know how patient yall have been w my mistakes in other chapters/fics? do that again, but x500 ty
> 
> (pls all of u make better choices than me and take care of yourselves)

Matt can almost taste their adrenaline in the air even from several blocks away, so despite only having a garble of words as a warning, he's far from surprised when Foggy and Karen jump onto him.

He laughs, giving up after his half-hearted attempt to shake them off proves to be fruitless. “You two sure are energetic this morning.”

“It’s Halloween, Matt!” Foggy croons. Karen cheers unintelligibly from where she’s pressed tightly against Matt’s side.

Matt’s lips quirk in a confused smile. “Halloween’s in four weeks, Fogs.”

“No, no, no!” Foggy detaches himself enough to shake his head aggressively. “It’s October, so it’s Halloween! The month of Halloween is Halloween!”

“Uh, okay,” Matt agrees to spare himself whatever endless discussion he’d cause if he were to do literally anything _ but _ agree. There were downsides to being friends with someone on the debate team, after all. “Why hold off until the third of October, though?”

“Because of the disgusting heat for the past couple of days,” Karen whines. “Like, that kind of weather has no business existing in October. So today’s the first day of Halloween month where it _ hasn’t _ been freakishly warm, and thus, celebration!”

“And celebrate, we shall!” Foggy exclaims. Karen laughs brightly, and Matt can’t help the wide smile that settles onto his features, their enthusiasm contagious.

“Don’t you want to celebrate on Halloween itself?” Matt asks. He wouldn’t object to hanging out with his friends, but the reasoning behind Foggy and Karen’s excitement and desire to do certain things is nothing short of nonsensical, at least to him.

“Halloween is either for trick-or-treating or watching horror movies and pretending you’re not about to piss your pants,” Karen tells him sagely. “Halloween _ month _ is for everything else.”

“As the lady said!” Foggy exclaims. “The Kang’s made a boatload of apple cider vinegar like they do each year, the baking club is selling a bunch of pumpkin pies, and I’ve got a Pinterest board full of Halloween crafts!” He pauses. “I’m not good at crafts, though, I feel like I should mention that.”

Karen nods her head in agreement. “My creative skills are pretty much nonexistent.”

Matt nudges her gently with a smile. “Says the person writing for the school newspaper. You’re plenty creative.”

“Fine- my arts and crafts skills are nonexistent,” she amends. “And quit being such a charmer, Murdock- I’m a taken woman, you know.”

He laughs, joy and contentment coming off of all of them in waves, making him feel lighter than he has in a long, long time. “Of course, that’s my bad.”

“You should know better than to let your guard down around Matt, Karen,” Foggy teases. “He’s got charisma practically oozing from his pores. Can’t let him walk around alone or he’ll end up causing at least a dozen people to fall madly in love with him.”

Matt pokes Foggy’s side, smile only the tiniest bit vicious. “I refuse to stand for such slander. Foggy’s the real playboy around these parts, and I’m sure Marci agrees.” He pauses. “Speaking of Marci, will she be joining us?” He doesn’t particularly know what to make of her, but he figures spending some time with her outside of school won’t be so bad when both Foggy and Karen are there to help keep things under control.

But it turns out he doesn’t even need to worry about that as Foggy shakes his head. “Just you, me, and Karen, buddy!” Foggy exclaims.

Matt raises an eyebrow. “No Marci or Brett?” He isn’t foolish enough to think Frank’s close enough with either Foggy or Karen for him to be invited to a little arts-and-crafts get together, but he is surprised that the other two aren’t going to be joining them.

“It’s a bad bitches only event, Murdock, so-”

“Brett has a family thing and Marci is going to some conference,” Karen interrupts. “And Dinah’s got a big exam coming up and Frank told me to not come within twenty feet of him with any crafts supplies.”

“Oh, you- oh.” So they (or Karen, at least) _ had _planned on having Frank join them, which is… Matt doesn’t know how he feels about that. Either Karen and Frank were closer than he thought, or they had wanted to invite Frank just for Matt’s sake.

“Anyways, this Saturday, 4 o’clock, you free?” Foggy asks.

Matt latches onto the topic eagerly. “Yeah, sure. Uh, where should I go? Are we doing it at your place?”

Foggy shakes his head with a huff of laughter. “Lord, no. Since Candace’s failed movie project, no non-school-related creative activities are allowed in the Nelson household. We’re gonna do it at Karen’s place, plus she lives by herself.”

Matt wishes he knew what event Foggy was referring to, but asking would serve as a poignant, stifling reminder that Matt was missing for several years and hadn’t been a part of either of their lives longer than he’d actually been in them. He keeps his mouth shut and pastes on his best attempt at a smile and swallows down the lost, lonely feeling that wraps around his throat.

“Let me remind you that because I live by myself, it’s hella expensive even though it is quite basically a shithole,” Karen tells them sternly. “That means no messing up my place or making it even more unbearable to live in.”

“Of course,” Matt manages to say, tone steady and successfully keeping his internal panic under wraps. “We’ll be on our best behavior, Karen.”

She beams at him, shifting to lock their arms together rather than continue her imitation of a gecko on a tree branch. “Excellent! As thanks, you get to decide what take out we’ll order.”

He’d like to, except the number of hygienic places to order take out from (that aren’t absurdly expensive) are next to none, and also for the fact that his super senses make him a ridiculously picky eater. If it were left to him to figure out where to order food from, they’d probably all starve. “Oh, I- I don’t care.”

“Lies!” Foggy declares. “Matt’s a total food snob, don’t let anything he says convince you otherwise.” He barrels on despite Matt’s sputtered complaints to lean forward and stage-whisper, “He’s a major fan of home-made food if you know any recipes. I can offer some slices of meat courtesy of my family, but that’s about all I can do to help around in the kitchen.”

“_Foggy_,” Matt whines. He had almost forgotten how he had always been a difficult eater even when he was a kid, back before concerns about how many times a cook washed their hands or let the ingredients sit a little too close to the vents for a little too long even crossed his mind.

“No, that’s perfect! There’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to try out- the serving size is typically for about two people, and I had originally just been planning on cutting down the portions, but- this is great!”

Matt blinks, embarrassment disappearing in favor of paying full attention to Karen. “You cook?”

She shrugs, cheeks flushing and head dipping down for a moment before she straightens. “Not a _ lot_, just, you know- enough to not starve and have something for special occasions, and all that.”

Her heart is far faster than usual, hormones and perspiration starting to seep into the air around her, and her left hand fidgets with the hem of her sleeve the same way it always does whenever a certain someone crosses her mind.

Ever so slowly, Matt’s lips twist into a smirk. “Miss Page,” he purrs. “Are you perhaps trying to practice your romantic meal for Dinah on us?”

She yelps, using both hands to cover her flaming face as she half-laughs, half-groans.

“No way!” Foggy exclaims. “I didn’t take you for a romantic dinners type of gal!”

“Well it’s not like I’m doing it for _me_,” Karen hisses, but her tone is just light enough for Matt to know she’s not actually upset, even without using his senses.

“That’s so cute,” Foggy coos.

Before Karen can get any more embarrassed, Matt decides to step in. “I’m sure she’ll love it,” he assures her.

Karen does her best, but she ultimately fails at stifling a pleased little noise. “Anyways!” she proclaims. “I’ll handle the food, Foggy will handle the crafts, and Matt will provide us with his mysterious and lovely company.”

“He’s as mysterious as he is lovely,” Foggy agrees, mock-forlornly.

Matt chuckles, shaking his head fondly at his friends’ antics. “Alright, alright, I get it, I don’t hang out with you guys as much as I should. I’ll work on it, okay?”

He doubts it’s the exact words they wanted to hear, but all of them are well aware it’s the best they’re going to get, so Foggy hums in agreement.

“Sounds good, buddy. And you better not back out- you best believe I’m going to be looking forward to watching you taste-teste the food representation of Karen’s feelings.”

Karen reaches a hand behind Matt’s back to smack at Foggy, all three of them grinning ear to ear like a bunch of fools.

It’s nice, and the exact sort of thing he thought he’d never get again - he’d never even _deserve _to get again after everything that happened to him - and yet here he is, snug between two people he adores and adore him back, and he can’t help but think that maybe things do turn out okay in the end, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be uploaded on saturday (oct 5th) !!
> 
> also reminder that ive got a discord server which you can join [here](https://discordapp.com/invite/xupQR4T) !


	2. epiphany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the day has finally arrived, and while the trio hangs out, matt learns what a home is truly made of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was originally supposed to go in a very Different direction, but i decided to save it for an extra of its own so i can try and do the content justice!
> 
> hope yall enjoy! (im def going to do more fun + fluffy extras w the trio celebrating halloween, so if this wasnt enough to satisfy u, dont worry!)

The weather’s started to dip from ‘nice and cool’ to ‘really fucking cold’, and Matt hates it.

He’s bundled up in four layers as he speed-walks to Karen’s apartment, left hand shoved in his pocket as his right does the bare minimum to tap his cane along the sidewalk.

Cold weather bites at every bit of skin it could possibly touch, and as a result, leaves his ears, nose, and fingers chilled and effectively dulling anything he might normally be able to pick up with them.

And even besides how they end up muting his senses, the cold weather is just- _ difficult_, and it’s he’s always either wearing far too many layers or far too few.

After a few more minutes of grimacing against the wind, he finally arrives at Karen’s apartment. He’d probably be able to find her door even without instructions, given the smell of cooking lasagne flowing through the air.

He only manages to knock once before the door is being yanked open and Karen ushers him inside.

“Can you keep an eye on the oven? I forgot to do an assignment that’s due in like half an hour, and-”

He waves her off. “Yeah, I got it, go ahead.”

She hesitates for a second and then she’s off, sprinting through the apartment and presumably to her computer, where she quickly begins typing and swearing under her breath.

Matt settles in at one of the seats in the kitchen, tilting his head as he listens to the sizzle of cheese and sauce, the slow expansion of dough. He typically doesn’t spend much time in the kitchen, only making the most basic of meals that satisfy as much of the nutritional requirements with as little ingredients as possible. While his enhanced senses allow him to be better at cooking than most sighted people, it takes far too much time and energy for something that’s temporary.

He’s actually pretty sure that isn’t a good thing - it seems like something Foggy would tell him ‘isn’t the most healthy of mindsets’, but he can’t quite figure out what it is that’s ‘wrong’, just that it is.

But before he gets a chance to think about it any further, there’s a few short knocks and a familiar voice calling through the door.

“Karen! Open up, my hands are full!”

“I’ll get it!” Matt calls to Karen, then quickly moves around the counter and opens the door. “Hey, Foggy.”

“Matt! Good to see you, buddy. Any idea where I can put this?” He wiggles whatever’s in his arms - a cardboard box, full of something soft and like a bunch of packed fibers - as he steps into the apartment.

“Just set it down wherever!” Karen shouts. “I’ve gotta do the assignment for Jenkins!”

Foggy glances around before shrugging and letting the box fall onto an empty patch of carpet. “You still haven’t done it?”

“No, I- let me focus! Matt, can you take care of him?”

“Sure, thing.” Matt takes hold of Foggy’s elbow and flashes him a grin. “The lasagne’s almost done, anyway.”

“Ooh, lasagne?” Matt can almost hear Foggy’s mouth water. “Count me _ in_.”

*

Karen joins them as they’re waiting for the food to cool down in the middle of their discussion over whether laws could morally be made or applied to aliens.

“The laws are made by _humans _\- it doesn’t make any sense to hold aliens to the same standard,” Foggy says.

Matt shakes his head. “If they’re not held to our standards, whose are they held to except their own? And what if they don’t even _have _a set of laws or societal guidelines that they follow? There have to be some boundaries set for them, at least in the short term. If they’re planning to be on Earth for a while, then they can address the issue of advocating for the legislation involving them.”

“That’s assuming they made the choice to be on Earth for the short term, though,” Foggy says. His voice is getting stronger and more passionate - he’s getting into this. “What if they crashed? Or were being held against their will? Should they still be forced to follow the same rules as everyone else?”

“Even if they don’t have complete control over their situation, they can’t be allowed to do whatever they want. And obviously they shouldn’t be forced to follow extremely specific and ridiculous laws that exist in only one or two cities, but things like murder and theft shouldn’t be permissible just because they’re not human.”

“Says who, though? Why should they follow the same laws as us when they’re based in a universal moral code when they might not even have one, let alone a similar one to ours?”

“Because so long as they live amongst us, they have to behave in a way that doesn’t harm our society or any of the people in it.”

“Okay, but-”

“Alright, that’s good,” Karen interrupts. “As entertaining as it is to hear you two discuss the legality of alien rights, I’m pretty sure the lasagne’s ready to be served.”

Matt and Foggy duck their heads sheepishly and move out of the way so Karen can put a piece on their plates.

“Alright, we can eat then do whatever crafts Foggy planned for us. Sound good?” Karen asks.

Foggy’s agreement is muffled by the food in his mouth, and Matt winces.

“Yeah, sounds good. Thank you for the lasagne, Karen, it smells delicious.”

Karen’s cheeks heat up as she beams, a slight glow that helps to paint her features in the rest of his burning world. “Thanks, Matt.”

“It is _heavenly_,” Foggy declares after he swallows (quite noisily, in Matt’s honest opinion). “Dinah’s a lucky girl if she gets to eat this on a regular basis.”

Matt says grace and takes a bite, careful to wait until it’s cool enough so he doesn’t burn his mouth. He hums around the mouthful, pleased at the combination of flavors and textures that come together in harmony just shy of perfect. “It really is good.”

Karen grins at the both of them as she eats, heart beating joy and contentment to an almost overwhelming degree.

“You know, you should really join the debate club,” Foggy says during the moment of silence. “You’ve always had a talent for bullshit, but you could kick some serious ass at competitions.”

Matt forces a chuckle, slowly losing his appetite. “I’m not- I don’t think I’m cut out for that sort of thing.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve gone to enough of Foggy’s events to know you could probably hold your own, and then some,” Karen adds.

They sound so optimistic- like they actually believe what they’re saying, and it makes Matt squirm in his seat. He’d always been slow to pick up on all of Stick’s lessons, and coming back after being ‘missing’ for so long had left him ridiculously behind on- _ everything_, with his education at the top of the list.

“You’re one of the smartest guys in the school, Matt,” Foggy laughs, but it sounds slightly strained. Whatever he’s starting to think of, he doesn’t like it. “It’s not like you’re not smart enough, buddy.”

“I literally haven’t been in school for years,” Matt says dryly. “There’s no way I’m-”

“Matt, do you… Not think that you’re smart?” Karen asks.

“Matt, dude, is this another one of those things that asshole-” The tension in his Foggy’s voice from earlier increases tenfold.

“No, I just-” Matt scrambles for something to say that would stop them from laying all his numerous issues and insecurities onto the table, “I’m already really busy, with school, and, uh-”

“Oh. _ Oh_,” Karen nods sagely. “Right, that makes sense. Well, if you ever get the time, you should try it out.”

Matt has no idea what she’s talking about, but he’s not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he nods as well. “Yeah, sure.”

“And debate competitions make for _great _dates,” Foggy tells him.

Karen scoffs. “They really don’t. But it’s always really nice to invite people you care about to.” She elbows Foggy. “Just because you and Marci have this weird debate-tension going on during events, doesn’t mean everyone else is the same.”

“Uh, moving on from thinking about what that means,” Matt says through a laugh, “what was the assignment you were working on, Karen?”

*

They finish eating relatively quickly, none of them having the patience to really take their time with the food, no matter how incredible it tastes.

“Alright, so I’ve got a shitton of yarn,” Foggy announces, dropping his box full of said yarn onto the floor. “And only a vague idea of what to do.”

“You had one job,” Karen says dryly. “One. Job.”

“My job was to supply the crafts, not be _good_ at it,” Foggy defends. “So actually, I-”

“Alright, alright, no need to go all future-lawyer on us.” Karen sits on the ground and dumps the box’s contents onto the floor. “Tell us what to do, Foggy.”

Matt eases himself down onto the ground with them, careful not to let his hands drag against the carpet. His burns and injuries weren’t as raw as they had been right after everything had happened, but they still weren’t completely healed yet.

“Alright, so all of us get a piece of cardboard and a thing of yarn,” Foggy says as he hands them the items. “And then you basically wrap the yarn around the cardboard for, like, a hundred times.”

“A hundred?” Matt blinks, lightly running his fingers across the materials and frowning. “That’s a lot of yarn, are you sure?”

“Yeah, it just needs a lot of yarn. And don’t worry, there was a sale so I got all this stuff for under 5 dollars.”

Karen whistles lowly as she inspects the yarn. “That’s a damn good deal, Mr. Nelson.”

“Why thank you, Miss Page.” Foggy gives a little bow before he sits down. “Now let’s get this party started!”

It’s a relatively easy task, and Matt’s glad to find that it isn’t something that relies heavily on sight. He lets his body move on auto-pilot, wrapping the yarn as he keeps track of how many times he’s doing it in the back of his head.

“While I’ve got you two stuck here,” Foggy begins slyly, “how are Frank and Dinah?”

Karen coughs. “Dinah’s, well, you know. She’s great, as always.”

“What a glowing review,” Matt quips, and giggles when Karen throws her yarn at him and then swears when it unravels part of what she had done.

“She’s seriously wonderful,” Karen adds after a moment. “And I know it’s stupid, but I really do, you know. I really care about her.” Her voice quiets down near the end, a sort of vulnerability and honesty that makes Matt’s heart warm automatically in response.

“I’m glad she’s a part of your life,” Foggy says. Matt hums an agreement, which he immediately regrets when Foggy zeros in on him next. “How about you, Matt? How’s whatever’s going on with Frank doing?”

Matt twitches. “Ah. Well, it’s- there’s not much to say.”

Foggy groans, dragging a hand across his face in exasperation. “There is _everything _to say, Matt, because you haven’t said anything except that you like him! C’mon, this is our daytime sleepover-talk!”

“Sleepover talk?” Matt frowns. “Is this a sleepover? I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

“Not- not a _literal _sleepover, just the kind of talks usually reserved for sleepovers,” Foggy says.

Matt nods slowly in understanding. “Ah.” He shrugs. “There really isn’t much to say, though. I like him, and that’s pretty much it.”

“Are you planning on confessing anytime soon?” Karen asks. “Or do you like it when the other person makes the first move?”

He shrugs again. “I don’t think it really matters to me. But with how hectic uh- my life is, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and do anything about it until it’s all settled down.”

“Couldn’t that stuff take months, though?” Foggy asks incredulously. “You can just sit on your feelings for that long? How do you just ignore your feelings like that?”

“‘The mind controls the body’,” Matt replies automatically. He flinches once he realizes what he’s said, and can only hope Foggy and Karen didn’t notice. “It, uh- well- I can do it,” he finishes lamely.

“... Right,” Karen says. “Well, if you’re okay with it, then alright.” She must sense his discomfort with the topic because she shifts her tone and body language after a moment. “Alright Foggy, I finished wrapping it! What next?”

“Then you cut it and tie it with more yarn in four places. Here, like this.” He demonstrates with his own, humming as she imitates his actions. “And then you cut here, here, and - yeah, like that - and there you go! You can cut it until it looks how you want it to, and then it’s just adding finishing touches and anything else you want to do.”

Matt fiddles with his yarn, suddenly incredibly aware of how much more effort he and everyone else has to put in for him to participate in nearly any activity, no matter how simple it may seem at first. He doesn’t mind putting the extra work in (although he doesn’t really have any choice _not _to), but asking Foggy to do more to accommodate him seems… Selfish, almost. Needy, at the very least.

“You done, Matt?” Foggy calls to him. He scoots over so their knees are touching, peering at Matt’s handiwork.

“Uh- I- yes. I’m done.”

“Great! Alright, so after you cut your yarn, just tie some pieces of yarn at these places.” He takes one of Matt’s hands in his own and guides them to the correct places, making small noises of encouragement when he gets them right without help. “And then you cut them at these places,” more guiding, “and then you kind of just trim it into shape!”

Matt can only nod dumbly as he follows the instructions, his brain barely able to focus as he tries to acknowledge just how easily Foggy had helped him. He had done it so naturally, almost unthinkingly, as though making sure Matt wasn’t lost was as second-nature to him now as it had been all those years ago.

He wonders when exactly Matt had become so important to Foggy that his wellbeing was something so natural to check- when Foggy had taken a look at Matt with all his flaws and weaknesses and decided to love him anyway.

“You alright, Matt?” Karen asks him. Her voice is concerned and gentle but not soft - the tone of someone looking out for a friend, not someone worrying over the ‘poor, blind orphan’ that he’s become so familiar with.

“Yeah, I-” He takes a shaky breath in. “I’m just really glad you both are my friends.”

“Aww, Matt,” Karen practically melts in her spot. “Can I hug you? I really want to hug you.”

“Yeah, go ahead.” He opens his arms and Karen all but leaps into them, squeezing him so tightly tears prick at the corners of his eyes (yes, that’s the only reason why).

“Incoming hug from Foggy!” Foggy declares as he moves forward and wraps his arms around both of them.

It’s warm and snug, and it makes him feel the same way he did when his dad scooped him up and out of bed on the weekends, nothing but contentment and love flowing through him.

Matt closes his eyes and soaks in the feeling, lets himself relax and just take the affection without overthinking it, lets himself feel cared for and loved by two people he’d go to the ends of the earth to protect.

They hold him up even as he sags against them, providing the perfect support and strength he can’t even remember to ask for, and he smiles against Karen’s hair as he squeezes his eyes shut against the onslaught of emotions rising up in his chest.

It feels like home.

**Author's Note:**

> hope yall enjoyed!


End file.
